


Terminal

by AXEe



Series: Lucky Thirteen [8]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Gen, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-13 15:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17490416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: Hello al! Here we are chapter one of next installment of "Lucky Thirteen".   As promised, this one is intended to be more lighthearted than "Bad Wolf Unbound".    Please enjoy! :=)





	1. Riding the Rails

**Author's Note:**

> Hello al! Here we are chapter one of next installment of "Lucky Thirteen". As promised, this one is intended to be more lighthearted than "Bad Wolf Unbound". Please enjoy! :=)

******

The TARDIS’ garden, like the kitchen, changed the most often, at times looking like a beautiful forest meadow (complete with holographic sky) and other times it looked more like a Victorian era greenhouse.

Currently, it looked like the latter, and even had fully-stocked gardening shed filled to bursting with every kind of gardening tool that one could want or need from all of time and space (and even a few that you didn’t want or need).

Graham had stumbled upon the room by accident—which seemed to be a byproduct of living in the TARDIS—and although possessing more of a ‘brown thumb’ than a green thumb, he’d found a few books on gardening in the library and, after a few tries, had managed to cultivate a small vegetable patch for himself, finding that the entire endeavor often soothed his nerves after an adventure.

Wiping the dirt off his hands, he straightened up and assessed his handiwork. The carrots were coming in nicely and the tomatoes were ready to picked any day now. The lettuce, by contrast, was looking a little limp, but wasn’t dying, so that was a win in his book.

“Looks nice,”

Turning, he smiled as Rose rounded the corner.

“Didn’t know you were into gardening” she remarked as she came to stand besides him

“Never used to be,” he admitted “Grace liked it. She was always trying to get me involved but I always had a bit of a brown thumb,” he explained “but, when I found this room though I’d give it another try”

“I know what you mean,” Rose nodded “before I started traveling with The Doctor I used to just read magazines and the like, but after I found the library I started reading actual books,” she explained as the TARDIS gently shook around them “hmm, we’ve landed” she noted

“Best see where we’ve ended up” Graham nodded…

******

Exiting the box, they found the others waiting for them.

“Where you two?” The Doctor wondered “we’ve been waiting for you”

“Sorry,” Graham apologized “we were in the garden”

“So, where are we?” Rose asked, looking around the crowded area they found themselves in

“New York City,” The Doctor answered “the year 2110. And this…,” she spread her arms wide to indicate the area at large “…is the maiden voyage of the Transatlantic Railway”

“The what?” Yaz asked

“Part of the first global railway,” River Song pitched in “a maglev train capable of carrying passengers from New York City to London and Paris at a comfortable two thousand miles per hour”

“It revolutionized mass transit on Earth,” Jack Harkness added “after this baby launched, air travel went the way of the dinosaurs”

“It was clean, quiet, and, above all else, cheap,” The Doctor added “and…,” she held up a series of translucent strips of material “…we’ve got tickets for the first trip,” she beamed.

“Whose up for a train ride?” she grinned.

The rest of the group looked between each other, all nodding eagerly.

"Sounds fun," Ryan nodded "I could go" he grinned as he accepted his ticket

"Yeah, me too" Yaz added, also taking a ticket...

******

A few feet away, in the operations booth, a woman calmly dragged the dead body of a technician into a darken corner. Ensuring that the body was away from prying eyes, she activated her comlink.

“Sir” she nodded at her employer as his face appeared in the small holographic screen

“ _Can you do it?_ ” he asked

“Possibly,” the woman nodded “but it’ll take time,” she warned “this needs to look like an accident”

“ _I’ll double your payment,_ ” her employer growled out “ _just make sure that the_ technology _fails. I can’t have this technology completing with my airline_ ”

The woman nodded.

“Understood” she replied as she cut the connection...


	2. In the Lap of Luxury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Chapter TWO! Enjoy! :=)

******

“ _Welcome to the Transatlantic Railway. Mass transit for the 22nd century. Please present your boarding pass for proper verification_ ”

Rose held out her translucent ticket for the kiosk to scan

“ _Thank you, Ms. Tyler. While you wait for departure would you like to learn more about the Transatlantic Railway?_ ”

Rose frowned and then nodded

“Sure” she said

“ _Thank you,_ ” the kiosk’s intentionally ‘cheery’ voice was starting to grate on her nerves she decided as a diagram of the train appeared on its screen “ _the Transatlantic Railway utilizes revolutionary superconductive maglev technology. Traveling within a vacuum, the train is propelled to speeds as high as two thousand miles per hour, reducing travel time between New York and London to three hours…_ ”

The kiosk droned on as The Doctor called for Rose. Ignoring the rambling kiosk, she turned and pushed her way through the crowd towards the others, pausing as she passed a reporter.

“I’m here with Larry Dyson, founder of Dyson Airways,” the reporter explained her viewers “now, Mr. Dyson, you were one of the early investors on the Transatlantic Railway, yes?”

The man in a tuxedo nodded

“That’s correct” he answered

“But you withdrew early on in the development stage due to efforts by your company to consolidate the world’s airlines,” the reporter pressed “in fact, sources say that you actually protested this project once construction began”

“Dyson Airways had some concerns, yes,” Mr. Dyson nodded “but competition is the bedrock of free enterprise, after all,” he added “personally, I like trains. They’re…old-fashioned”

“So you’re _not_ in New York to meet with international representatives about the rise in airfare and jet fuel costs?” the reporter asked

“I can’t comment on that,” Mr. Dyson deflected “excuse me”

Frowning, Rose puzzled over the exchange she’d just witnessed as she joined the others.

“Everything OK, love?” The Doctor asked

“Hmm? Oh, yeah,” dismissing the incident Rose turned to her wife “so, we all checked in?”

“Yep,” The Doctor nodded “should be boarding in…” she trailed off as a chime rang throughout the terminal

“ _Attention, now boarding for the Transatlantic Railway_ ” a voice on the PA announced

“That’s us” The Doctor grinned, eagerly taking Rose’s hand and pulling her towards the waiting train. Although ‘train’ was perhaps too plain of a description. Colored a creamy, off-white, the sleek, curving, serpentine vehicle resembled a modern art sculpture than the Underground trains that Rose used to take in London.

The interior of the train was just as sleek and modern as the exterior, with wide, plush, couch-like seats and interactive displays embedded in the walls.

Finding a pair of seats, Rose and The Doctor settled down.

“Ooh! Memory foam cushions!” The Doctor exclaimed “nice”

“Comfy,” Rose agreed “I could fall asleep in this” she remarked

“Too bad you won’t get the chance,” River remarked from across the aisle “we’ll be in London in under three hours” she reminded her

“Still it’s nice” Rose remarked as Graham and Ryan and Yaz settled down in the seats across from her and The Doctor

“Oh this is nice,” Graham sighed “yeah,” he shifted into a more comfortable pose “this’ll do wonders for my back. A lot better than the drivers seat on a bus, I’ll tell you”

“Or my police cruiser” Yaz agreed

“They got a snack car here?” Ryan wondered “missed breakfast”

“Should be,” The Doctor aimed her sonic at the armrest of her seat “ah, yep, here we go, Ryan, snack car’s two cars back from this one and there’s a first class dining car two cars ahead. Oh, wish I’d known that sooner, I could’ve taken my wife here on a date” she pouted.

“I don’t care,” Rose assured her “I feel like everyday with you is a date,” she blushed as she realized what she’d said “god, that was sappy” she groaned

“Oh yeah” Jack agreed as he came into the car carrying two drinks, one which he handed to River as he took his own seat

“ _Attention, final boarding for the Transatlantic Railway. Passengers please take your seats_ ” the PA announced as the doors slid shut with a muted hiss, followed by a distant humming sound from outside before the train began to gently sway from side to side as it moved forward.

“Are we moving?” Rose wondered, looking around

“Yep,” The Doctor beamed “nice isn’t it? Quiet”

“ _Attention passengers, the Transatlantic Railway has now reached our maximum cruising speed of two thousand miles per hour. Estimated time of arrival in London, three hours and twenty seconds_ ”

The other passengers applauded. Looking around, Rose noticed that most of them were dressed in tuxedos and cocktail dresses. Looking down at herself, she felt a little underdressed in her simple dress which she’d dug out of the depths of her closet.

“We’re bit underdressed, eh Doc?” Graham commented, also noticing the other passengers

“Not really no,” The Doctor dismissed “these are all VIPs, many of them have a controlling interest in the train, they can afford to dress however they like. As far as they’re concerned we’re just some of the same,” she explained as she stood up and offered Rose a hand “snack car or dining car, love?” she asked

“Dining car,” Rose declared as she took the offered hand “I’m suddenly craving a nice steak dinner” she added as they left for the dining car.

“Think I’ll check out the snack car” Ryan remarked, standing up

“Me too,” Yaz agreed “Graham?”

“Not for me, love,” Graham dismissed “I brought my own,” he held out a bag of crackers “but you go on” he encouraged

“Mind if we join you?” River asked

“No, sure” Yaz agreed. As the four left, Graham settled back into his seat, feeling the swaying of the train start to lull him to sleep

“Excuse me, sir?”

Blinking, he sat up, finding a middle-aged brunette standing over him

“I’m sorry,” she apologized “but there’s a slight power flux in one of the conduits and the access door is behind your seat”

“Oh, sure, sorry” quickly getting up, Graham stepped aside and allowed her through, unaware that she was the same woman who’d killed one of the technicians earlier…

******

The dining car was nice.

Being seated in short order, Rose and The Doctor perused their menus

“This is very posh,” Rose remarked “reminds me of that time we were on the Orient Express with Clara”

“Let’s just hope that there are no mummies on this one” The Doctor joked as, just outside the car, one of the electromagnets controlling the train’s movement exploded…


	3. High Speed Rail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are folks! Chapter THREE! Enjoy! :=)

******

The red wine swirled around in the glass, causing The Doctor to eye it with great suspicion. Gently setting it down on the table at arm’s length, she turned to her menu

“Well, I know you’re going to have a steak,” she began “but what do I have?”

“Do you like fish?” Rose wondered.

The Doctor frowned

“Don’t know,” she admitted “everything’s still new,” she gestured to her general form. She pursed her lips “I suppose I could just get one of everything” she decided

“Bit expensive” Rose noted

“Yeah, but we’ve got unlimited credit” The Doctor reminded her, grinning shyly

“Have you decided?” the waiter asked as he appeared

“Yes,” The Doctor scrutinized her menu “I think I’ll have…the fish”

“Excellent choice,” the waiter nodded “it’s a lovely Dover sole,” he praised “and for you, madam?” he turned to Rose

“The steak,” Rose nodded “is that bone in?”

“Yes, ma’am”

Rose nodded

“Good”

“How would you like your steak? Rare? Medium? Well-done?”

“Well-done” Rose decided.

The waiter nodded

“Very good, ma’am” beaming a slightly too-wide smile, he turned and moved down the aisle, suddenly stumbling as the train car suddenly rocked to the side, causing several other diners to yell in surprise.

“Oh, dear,” The Doctor grabbed her napkin and hurriedly wiped up her spilled wine “I knew I shouldn’t have ordered that wine,” she muttered “did any get on you?” she asked

“No, I’m good,” Rose nodded “what happened?” she wondered

“Don’t know,” The Doctor admitted “if we were on an ordinary train I’d say we’d hit a bump in the track”

“Well, the kiosk back at the terminal said this thing travels in a vacuum,” Rose pointed out “could it have been an air pocket?”

“That could be,” The Doctor nodded “well, let’s ignore it for now and enjoy our dinner” she decided…

******

“There you are, sir, one pint of Guinness”

Graham nodded his thanks as he took the pint from the bartender. Taking a sip, he smiled and waved as Ryan and Yaz entered

“Thought you two were going to check out the snack car” he remarked

“Ah, it was a disappointment,” Yaz dismissed “didn’t know they had a bar here”

“Yeah, got a good selection too,” Graham nodded “take your pick” he invited as the door opened again, Rose entering

“Rose,” Yaz waved “thought you and The Doctor were having a dinner date?”

“We are,” Rose nodded “just wanted to explore,” she explained “how are things with you three?”

“Good,” Ryan nodded “nice place this train”

“Yeah it is” Rose agreed as the train suddenly rocked to the side. Catching themselves, the three looked at each other

“That don’t seem right” Graham remarked

“No,” Rose agreed, already hurrying back towards the dining car “it didn’t,” bursting into the dining car, she spotted The Doctor, who stood up “you felt that right?” Rose asked

“Yes,” The Doctor nodded. She flagged down a waiter “which way’s the engine car?” she asked

“That way,” he pointed “but—” his objections died as she and Rose hurried down the aisle towards the front of the train. Bursting into the engine car, they skidded to a stop

“Oh dear,” The Doctor crouched down next to the man laying on the floor “he must have been the engineer,” she realized, checking for a pulse “dead,” she announced “Rose, check the controls” she instructed.

“Right,” hurrying to the controls, Rose pulled her sonic out and scanned the controls. Opening a panel, she peered inside, scanning it as well “the controls are fused” she announced as The Doctor came over, peering over her shoulder as she pulled up a diagram on the screen

“Oh, they’re not just fused, they’re locked,” she realized “who ever did this was very good” she murmured

“ _Danger,_ ” the computer announced “ _now exceeding maximum safe cruising speed_ ”

“Well, shut it down then” The Doctor exclaimed

“ _Un, unable to, to, to com, comply_ ” the computer stuttered as a shower of sparks burst from the controls as the train increased speed…


	4. Keep Calm and Carry On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Chapter FOUR! Enjoy! :=)

******

“ _Danger, now exceeding maximum safe cruising sp—_ ”

The computer sputtered out as The Doctor yanked a handful of wires free from one of the controls.

“Right, that should keep the computer quiet for a bit, keep the passengers from panicking,” she declared “any luck with that radio?”

“Well,” Rose sighed “according to _this_ , the _‘Transatlantic Railway utilizes a revolutionary satellite-based transmission system, which makes ordinary radios obsolete’_ ,” she read “so, we don’t have a backup radio”

“Oh! What is it with geniuses and not planning ahead?” The Doctor sighed as the door opened and Graham, Ryan, and Yaz entered

“What is going on?” Yaz asked. She stopped as she spotted the body on the floor “is he dead?” she asked

“Yeah, he is. Sorry, Yaz” The Doctor answered

“Was it an accident?” Ryan wondered

“Don’t think so,” Rose shook her head as she nodded to the body “ligature marks around his neck, someone strangled him”

“Probably the same someone who sabotaged the train,” The Doctor added “Yaz, I want you to go back and reassure the passengers. Tell them whatever you want, but _don’t_ mention murder or sabotage”

“Right” Yaz nodded

“Ryan, Graham,” The Doctor turned to the boys “we need an extra set of hands in trying to regain control of the train”

“What can we do?” Graham wondered, looking around the futuristic cabin

“Here,” Rose held out a bundle of wires “help me splice these together, try and get the radio back up”

“Got it” Graham nodded as he and Ryan got to work…

******

Yaz grunted as she nearly collided with Jack and River

“Whoa, easy there,” Jack laughed as he steadied her “I’d make a joke about the earth moving, but something tells me that’d be in bad taste”

“Very bad taste, darling” River added

“The train’s been sabotaged and the engineer’s dead,” Yaz explained “The Doctor and Rose are trying to fix it but they want me to go and keep the passengers calm”

“Right,” River nodded “I’ll help you with that. Jack, go and help Rose and The Doctor”

“Got it” Jack nodded…

******

Entering the main passenger car, Yaz and River found several passengers were raising a ruckus.

“Everyone, could I have your attention please?” Yaz called

As the passengers quieted, River cleared her throat

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re representatives of the Transatlantic Railway,” she explained, the lie flowing as smooth as silk “the power loss that you’ve all been experiencing is a result of a glitch in the motivators. _But_ our technicians are working on it right now, and it should be resolved shortly”

Several passengers protested at this.

“Look,” Yaz began “at the very least, we’ll get to London an hour earlier. Now how often has that happened?”

The passengers murmured amongst themselves, many clearly reassured as River flagged down the bartender.

“Look, what is going on?” he demanded

“I’ll explain later,” River dismissed “put on a movie, something light” she advised

“A movie?” he scoffed “I don’t even have enough power to run my blender” he objected

“Then open the bar” Yaz urged

“On whose tab?”

“Just do it” River snarled…


	5. Consolidation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triple update! Chapter FIVE! Enjoy! :=)

******

“OK…and…” Rose looked at the screen hopefully as binary code began to scroll down the surface.

**

UNABLE  
TO  
TRANSMIT  
SIGNAL

**

“Oh you’re kidding me!” she groaned, swinging out a leg to kick the console, which only resulted in a bruised foot. Awkwardly hopping as her foot healed, she gave Jack a sheepish smile, who smiled back. Jack always reminded her of the older brother she’d never had, he’d tease and lightly torment her, but he always stood by her.

“Having problems?” he asked as he came over

“I got the system back up, but we still can’t call for help” she explained with a sigh.

“What about something else?” Ryan suggested “like a tweet or something?”

“That actually could work,” The Doctor stood up “yeah,” she muttered “the train has Wi-Fi, so if we…oh! Nope, sorry Ryan, no go. Good idea though”

“Yeah, actually it is,” Graham agreed “I think I got some kind of news feed over here,” he explained, beckoning them over “and it looks like someone’s just bought a whole of stocks in…Dyson Airways”

“Dyson Airways, what’s that?” The Doctor asked, leaning over his shoulder

“Hell if I know,” he shrugged “but, it might be worth checking out”

“Yeah, hang on,” Jack reached over, tapping away at the controls “got it!” he exclaimed as a file popped up on the screen “OK, Dyson Airways, founded by Larry Dyson in 2100…yadda-yadda…bought and sold off both Apple and Microsoft at a garage sale…hello! OK, says here that he recently consolidated the world’s airlines under his company, _and_ he was one of the chief competitors for the Transatlantic Railway, but later supported the project”

“Or so it would seem,” The Doctor nodded slowly “Graham you said that someone just bought stock in Dyson Airways?” he nodded “well there’s our answer then,” she declared “if the train succeeds then Dyson and air travel in general is doomed, but if it fails…”

“Then Larry Dyson makes a fortune” Jack nodded

“It’s more than that,” Rose nodded “I passed by Larry Dyson just before we boarded, he was talking to a reporter about raising ticket prices”

“So that’s his plan,” The Doctor breathed “destroy the Transatlantic Rail, discredit the technology, and suddenly people will have only one way to travel internationally: the airlines”

“And with Dyson having consolidated the airlines under his company he’s suddenly cornered the market on international travel” Jack breathed

“And will have killed hundreds of innocent people” Rose breathed shakily…


	6. Turn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter SIX! Enjoy! :=)

******

The swaying, rocking motion of the train was becoming stronger by the minute. What had started out as a slightly-unsettling but gentle rocking motion was now fast-becoming a rollicking, nauseating motion. Standing was an effort, and walking was only possible for those with excellent balance, or possibly a circus tightrope walker.

“Maybe it’s a good thing we missed dinner” The Doctor commented as she rocked back and forth on her heels (or, at least, it _looked_ like she was rocking back and forth on her heels) while she tried to reconnect two wires.

“Yeah, I think you’re right” Graham agreed, looking decidedly queasy

“This thing’s doing my dyspraxia wonders” Ryan added, looking just as queasy—if not mores so—as Graham.

Laying flat on her back, half-buried under one of the consoles, Rose let out a snarl of annoyance.

“No luck?” The Doctor asked as Rose pulled herself out.

“No” she confirmed

“Can’t we just…turn it off?” Graham wondered

“No,” The Doctor shook her head “the train’s traveling through a nearly-frictionless vacuum,” she explained “elementary physics; once an object is in motion, in a vacuum, it remains in motion until something stops it”

“So even if we manage to shut the power off we’ll still fly along this tunnel at three thousand miles an hour,” Jack explained “and probably end up crashing in a nice fiery explosion once we reach a turn”

“Wait,” Rose sat up “Jack, say that again”

Jack blinked, his eyes widening

“Oh! Rosie!” he grinned, quickly surging over and pulling her into a firm embrace. Planting a kiss on her forehead, he grinned madly at The Doctor “Doc, did I ever tell you that your wife is absolutely brilliant?”

“You don’t have to” The Doctor grinned

“Somebody want to clue us in?” Graham asked as The Doctor pulled a map up on one of the screens

“Here,” she pointed at the screen “the Challenger Seamount, the train has to make a turn around its edge”

“O…K” Graham nodded slowly

“See, the train has to slow down to make the turn,” Rose explained, as the words ‘CAUTION, REDUCE SPEED’ were superimposed over the map “ _but_ ,” she continued “if we speed up…”

“Then the train will break through the tunnel,” The Doctor added “and hit the water outside, which should slow it down to a safe speed”

“What water?” Ryan asked

“The ocean,” The Doctor explained “you didn’t know? We’re underwater; they didn’t call it the ‘Transatlantic Railway’ because it sounds good—although it does—but because it also goes across the ocean floor”

“OK, but what about the passengers?” Jack asked “if we do manage to break the train out of the tunnel, the entire thing could break apart on impact”

“Ah,” The Doctor adjusted the controls “if we uncouple this car from the rest of the train, not only will we reduce our own weight, _but_ the water rushing into the tunnel should slow the rest of the train down. It won’t be an easy stop, but it will be _a_ stop”

“ _Alert,_ ” the computer announced “ _rear car uncoupling in progress_ ”

“Sounds like someone has the same idea,” Jack reasoned “I don’t know about you, but I’m betting that’s our saboteur”

“I’ll take that bet,” The Doctor nodded as she dug Ryan’s cell phone out of his pocket, much to his indignation “Yaz? River? Get to the rear car as fast as you can, someone’s trying to uncouple it from the rest of the train, probably our saboteur”

“ _Understood_ ” River replied as she glanced back at the rest of the passengers “any word on our…situation?” she asked as Yaz gave her a worried look

“We think we’ve got a solution,” The Doctor explained “now hurry” she urged…


	7. Going off the Rails

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter SEVEN Enjoy because we're almost at the end here! :=)

******

River and Yaz looked like a pair of drunks trying to hold each other up as they made their way to the rear car.

Carefully entering the rear car as silently as possible they found a woman dressed in an ill-fitting mechanics overalls crouched by a access panel, hurriedly trying to rewire the workings within.

“Hard at work, I see” River quipped.

Startled, the woman surged to her feet, drawing a small pistol of some sort.

“You killed the engineer, didn’t you?” Yaz questioned “and sabotaged the train”

“I do good work,” the woman nodded, seemingly unrepentant “you’d be surprised how much people are willing to pay for my services” she added

“And just what ‘services’ are those?” River wondered

The woman shrugged

“I’m a…corporate fixer,” she answered airily “companies pay me to ‘fix’ their problems”

“By sabotaging their competitors” River nodded

“Don’t you care that hundreds of people on this train are going to _die_ because of you?” Yaz wondered

The woman shrugged.

“You know what they say, _‘war is good for business’_ ,” she chuckled “now, just to show you that I’m not a bad person, I won’t kill you” raising the weapon she fired it at the ceiling, a shower of sparks raining down on both Yaz and River. Turning to run, the woman let out a startled yell as River managed to tackle her, roughly dragging her back by her ankles.

Pulling herself atop the other woman, River soundly punched her across the jaw, which only seemed to annoy her, as she managed to throw River off her and climb to her feet, absently wiping at her mouth.

“OK. _Now_ I am going to kill you” she snarled, suddenly letting out a pained yelled as Yaz dropped down from an overhand on top of her, swinging a small fire extinguisher at her head.

“ _Attention, rear car uncoupling in progress_ ” the computer announced as River lunged, and with Yaz’s help, brought the woman to the floor. Grunting, River aimed the woman’s own weapon at her face

“Move,” she ordered, hauling her upright “now” she added as Yaz wrenched the woman’s arms behind her back and forced her through the door back into the forward car, the door sealing shut behind them as the rear car uncoupled, the decrease in weight causing the train to increase in speed…

******

Keeping the weapon out of sight, but still firmly pressed to the woman’s side, River and Yaz marched her through the train, passing several passengers who—thanks to the open bar—were now decidedly tipsy, many of them swaying more than the train was.

Reaching the engine car, Yaz and River forced the woman through.

“Got a present for you” Yaz announced

“Ah, good,” The Doctor nodded “perhaps you could tell us how to stop this train?”

“Sure,” the woman scoffed “how much you got? Because I don’t come cheap”

The Doctor’s face darkened

“I don’t think you fully understand the gravity of the situation,” she warned “you’re still here, with us, when this train crashes into the London terminal you’ll be killed right along with us”

The woman shrugged.

“I’ve led a full life,” she dismissed airily. With a grunt, she suddenly threw out a leg, kicking off the wall, upsetting Yaz’s balance and freeing herself. Somersaulting across the swaying floor, she flowed up into a half crouch a second pistol in her hand.’

“Now,” she began as she slowly climbed to her feet “you’re going to uncouple the rear car with me on it”

“And if we don’t?” The Doctor challenged “that’s a micro-printed handgun, good for one or two shots at most. You can’t kill all of us”

“I don’t need to,” the woman dismissed as she swung the weapon between the group “eniee…meanie…minnie…moe!” squeezing the trigger, she fired off a single shot.

Aimed directly at Rose’s heart.

With a pained yell, Rose fell back to the floor, blood rapidly staining her dress.

Grunting, the others collectively tackled the woman to the floor, Jack pressing the pistol’s barrel to her head as The Doctor rushed to Rose’s side

“Come on,” she breathed “come on,” she pleaded “you can do it”

“Doctor?” Ryan asked as he and Graham approached, while Rose winced in clear pain.

“Come on,” The Doctor whispered as Rose went still in her arms “come on” she repeated.

As they all watched, soft golden glow pulsed under Rose’s skin around the bullet wound, sealing it. Sucking in a painful-sounding breath, Rose suddenly lurched up, coughing for breath.

“Oh thank god” The Doctor breathed in relief

“I…hate…when that happens” Rose coughed out as she shakily climbed to her feet, The Doctor holding her steady

“You all right?” she asked

“Yeah,” Rose nodded “yeah, I’m good. Immortal, remember?” she grinned

“Right,” River wrenched several bundles of wires free from one console and passed them to Jack “tie her up” she ordered

“Wouldn’t you rather just toss her overboard?” he wondered even as he did as instructed, the woman groaning in clear discomfort as he tightened the knots “I’m sorry, too tight?” he sneered. He reached out, gripping her collar and yanking her up “the only reason—the _only reason_ —that I’m not putting this last bullet into your skull is because the girl you just shot wouldn’t want me to,”

He hauled her upright, slinging her up over one shoulder before unceremoniously dropping her to the floor again by the door, using the last wire to tie her to a support strut.

“Now stay there,” he ordered “Rose? You sure you’re OK?” he asked

Looking a little better, she nodded

“How do you _do_ that?” she demanded

“It’s not fun” he agreed

“Excuse me, but… _what_ just happened?” Yaz asked

“The Bad Wolf,” The Doctor explained “whenever I’m fatally injured I regenerate—changing my whole entire body—literally building a new one from scratch. But whenever Rose ot Jack are fatally injured, they just…don’t die, they heal”

“We’re facts,” Jack explained “fixed in time, we don’t age, we don’t die, true immortality”

“That’s amazing” Graham exclaimed

“Not really, no” River shook her head.

An uncomfortable silence descended over the group.

“Right,” The Doctor began, clapping her hands “let’s put this plan into action” she declared…

******

“…be sure to put your head between your knees and put you hands and arms over your heads,” Yaz called as she walked down the aisle helping the passengers assume crash positions “if you have pillows use them to protect your faces” she added as Rose and River got some of the slower passengers.

“Right, we all set?” The Doctor asked

“All set” Yaz confirmed

“Rose?” The Doctor asked “I want you to stay here with the others, make sure the passengers are safe” she instructed

“What about you?” Rose asked

“I’ll be fine” The Doctor assured her

“No,” Rose shook her head “no, you’re doing this again,” she declared “you’re now just…swaggering off to play the hero again”

The Doctor sighed as she cupped Rose’s cheek

“I had a feeling you’d say that” she breathed.

There was a sudden crackle of electricity and Rose jerked, grunting as she went limp in The Doctor’s arms. Tossing the taser away, The Doctor scooped Rose up and settled her into a seat. Making sure that she was secured, she looked up at the others.

“Make sure she’s safe” she instructed

“Doctor! Wait!” Yaz called, lunging for the closing door, missing by mere seconds…

******

Settling behind the controls in the engine car, The Doctor took a breath as she primed the controls.

“ _Uncoupling sequence in progress…_ ” the computer announced as the rest of the cars broke away from the engine car. Grunting at the sudden increase in acceleration, The Doctor gripped the throttle, easing the small lever forward.

“ _Warning, turn ahead, reduce speed_ ” the computer warned.

Ignoring it, The Doctor slammed the throttle as far as it would go, the car violent rocking from side to side as it reached the turn in the track, and now at full speed, crashed through the wall of the tunnel into the water outside, dropping down to scrape against the seafloor as water filled the tunnel, slowing the rest of the cars…

******

Groaning, Rose shook her head, shaking her hair out of her face

“Oh…no you don’t!” she snarled. Wrenching herself free from the seatbelt she lunged for the door, pounding on it angrily. Wrenching her sonic free, she aimed it at the controls, the intercom indicator lighting up “Doctor?” she called “Doctor?! Doctor, answer me!”

Slowly, there was a crackle of static, followed by a cough.

“ _Still here_ ” a familiar Northern voice coughed out

“Oh, thank god,” Rose breathed “I am going to kill you for that!” she snarled into the link

The Doctor weakly chuckled

“ _I love you too_ ” she replied…


	8. Travelers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter EIGHT! Enjoy! :=)

******

The Doctor fingered the cut above her eye as the helicopter swooped in low for a landing. Besides her, handcuffed, the saboteur shifted her wrists, easily slipping free of the cuffs, pausing as she noticed The Doctor merely watching her

“Not going to stop me?” she asked

“No, not really,” The Doctor shrugged. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a five hundred dollar bill “I want all the information about your deal with Larry Dyson,” she asked “in exchange I’ll pay you, and I won’t disable your vortex manipulator”

The woman smirked.

“Figured that you and your friends were time travelers,” she chuckled. She took the bill and held out a flash drive “full copies of all my exchanges with Larry Dyson. Give this to the cops and he’ll be spending the rest of his life in club fed”

“Who are you?” The Doctor asked as she took the flash drive “really?”

The woman paused as she primed her vortex manipulator.

“Just call me ‘Eve’” she declared before the vortex manipulator chimed and she vanished in a flash of light…

******

The Doctor grunted as she stepped out of the helicopter onto the deck of the aircraft carrier, finding Rose and the others waiting for her, Rose rushing towards her and flinging her arms around her neck.

“I’m all right, love,” The Doctor breathed into Rose’s shoulder “I’m all right” she repeated as she pulled away

“Doctor?”

A woman in a Royal Navy uniform approached, saluting as she did.

“Captain Lamont, representing UNIT,” she introduced herself “I understand that you have information regarding the sabotage of the Transatlantic Railway?”

The Doctor smiled

“Indeed I do,” she held out a flash driver “courtesy of Eve?”

“Who’s ‘Eve’?” Rose asked

“Our ‘corporate fixer’,” The Doctor explained “also a time traveler”

“Figures,” Rose muttered. She turned to Captain Lamont “can you give us a lift back to New York?” she asked.

Captain Lamont smirked.

“I think we can arrange that” she replied…


	9. The Benifits of Immortality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are folks! The final chapter of "Terminal"! Enjoy! :=)

******

The bullet hadn’t even left a scar.

Examining her reflection in the mirror, Rose was still amazed at the lack of scar tissue or blemishes of any kind on her skin. Twisting and turning, she examined her nude body from all possible angles. The scars and scrapes from various childhood injuries had long since vanished after her first resurrection, when she’d been reborn as a Time Lord-Human metacrisis during the time the Daleks stole the Earth.

A ‘biological metacrisis’, that was what The Doctor had called the change, a ‘biological impossibility’. Of course he’d added, Rose herself seemed to embody ‘impossibility’. Since that day, Rose had found herself facing death on an almost regular occasion, in fact, during The Doctor’s Eleventh life she’d developed a briefly blasé attitude towards it, taking a series of unnecessary risks, heedless of whether she could ‘die’ or not. An attitude that had changed after the Ponds had been lost in time.

“Rose?”

Looking up at the knock on the door, she quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself.

“Just a second” she called out. Securing the towel, she stepped out of the bathroom into what was, technically, ‘her’ room, but had for the last few thousand years become more ‘her and The Doctor’s room’. Stepping out of the steamy shower she found The Doctor sprawled out on the bed, an extremely old copy of _Cosmo_ in her hands, a pencil between her fingers.

“Ooh! _‘Six Ways to Make Him Melt’_ ,” she read, grinning. She tossed the magazine aside as she saw Rose “how are you feeling?” she asked as Rose rifled through the dresser for some clothes.

“Tired” Rose answered, holding up two t-shirts for the Time Lord’s inspection

“Blue,” The Doctor nodded “seriously though, how are you feeling?” she pressed as Rose shrugged on the oversized shirt

“Normal,” Rose shrugged “…for me that is” she added.

The Doctor bounced as Rose sat down next to her, reaching out to cup Rose’s chin

“You really scared me back there,” she breathed “you _always_ scare me whenever that happens” she admitted

“I know,” Rose nodded “I don’t do it on purpose” she exclaimed

“You did for awhile there” The Doctor reminded her

“I know,” Rose nodded “so, what happened with Larry Dyson?” she wondered

“He gets arrested on multiple charges on conspiracy and attempted murder,” The Doctor explained “his company gets liquidated and, since he consolidated the world’s airlines, air travel dies. In two years, various maglev trains are crisscrossing all of the world’s oceans, eroding national borders and paving the way for a unified world government”

“So basically, in trying to stop it, Larry Dyson actually helped the Transatlantic Railway” Rose reasoned

“Basically,” The Doctor nodded with a smirk. Pulling Rose close, she pulled them both down onto the bed, running her fingers through Rose’s still-damp hair “please don’t do that too much” she pleaded

“I’ll try,” Rose nodded, leaning to kiss the Time Lord “I love you” she breathed

“And right you are” The Doctor grinned.

Rose groaned and rolled her eyes.

“And here comes the ego” she muttered good-naturedly…

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! The end of my third original work set in this 'verse! I hope everyone enjoyed it and I hope you'll stay tuned for the next part, whatever that will be :=). Thanks for the kudos, comments, and general support :=).
> 
> Thanks again! :=)
> 
> \--AXEe :=)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :=)


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